The Kingdoms: Natasha Pulley

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You’re my family. You were family before any of them. I’ve missed you even when I didn’t remember you. And so Joe’s quest to find answers for questions he can hardly form begins, taking him from the attic room he shares with his precious daughter and a wife he does not love to the seemingly haunted lighthouse on the Outer Hebrides. The writing is also a bit weird, particularly the dialogue, which sometimes feel a bit 21st century. Some descriptions, narratives are very good though, and the pace, the dripping of tantalizing details is very good. Where to begin? I could say that this book, aiming to be a sci-fi alternative history, fails on those accounts, but at the end of the day the speculative genre is flexible. If I had to pinpoint my exact problem with The Kingdoms, it is that the characters are the most incomprehensible characters in pretty much any book I've ever read. The plot moves on from there, with Joe and Kite in a push-pull entanglement that is revealed to be a slow-burn romance. That’s where the “love story” label for the novel comes in, and Pulley conveys the two’s heartache brilliantly, making the reader ache along with them as they witness and execute unspeakable horrors as they try to survive the war.

amnesia storylines hurt, but this one felt like it was on a whole other level. groundbreaking honestly. the whole idea of feeling as though someone somewhere is calling for you, someone who knows you so intimately, almost touching their fingertips, and then it slips out of your grasp? B R U H. No detailed spoilers here, but please don't expect moral purity from any of the central characters. If you're looking for cinnamon rolls, this isn't your book. This is embarrassing and woefully cheap storytelling, and when the letter was finally read I felt tempted to drop the book on the spot. The premise of this book is intriguing: what if the French had won the Battle of Trafalgar and occupied France for most of the 19th Century? Pulley paints a vivid picture of Britain under French rule and the battle scenes are truly outstanding, especially the brutal French conquest of London as the King and his cowardly entourage flee for Edinburgh. The scenes of the hardships of life on board a 19th century battleship are equally riveting. Pulley has clearly done her research. there is just so much i could say about the kingdoms. little things like “hey did you know that there was a point where i almost gave this book 4 stars out of sheer spite because how dare natasha pulley hurt me like this”.

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I can only describe this book as painfully, tragically beautiful. Is it possible to give it 6 stars out of 5? Or 10? I’m just gonna go with yes and do that. So 6 + 10 = 16 stars out of 5. Fight me. I’ve always had difficulties reading books about time travel, but ”The Kingdoms” solves all the doubts that raises during the story. Eilean Mor hat sofort was bei mir klingeln lassen und mich an das Buch "Die Leuchtturmwärter" von Emma Stonex denken lassen. Denn es ist genau dieser Leuchtturm, der auch in dieser Geschichte eine Rolle spielt. Denn dort sind im Jahr 1900 tatsächlich drei Wärter auf mysteriöse Weise verschwunden und auch Natasha Pulley bindet dieses Ereignis gekonnt in ihren Roman mit ein. The context here is the love interest, Kite, has bodily thrown a literal 14 year old boy off the boat for attempting to divulge a secret. The characters react to Kite killing him -- and also pretty much every other kill by Kite or otherwise -- the same way they might react to a puppy tearing up the furniture. This is NOT meant to be comedic, this book takes itself VERY, VERY seriously).

Now, I'm not going to lie, in the middle of this book I thought this just might not get 5 stars from me, because there was just so much hurt, and I didn't see how this could end in anything but devastation and heartache. But she did it! Natasha Pulley, you absolute genius!!!

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Herein lies the abiding magic of Pulley’s storytelling, I think: that it has a great deal of trust in its reader. Hers is a greedy oeuvre: it’s not just our attention it covets, it also demands our active participation. Pulley leads us through pathways into her reimagined version of history and trusts that we will follow, that we will pay attention and make the necessary connections. Always, she is careful to remain two steps ahead, giving us just the right amount of information to whip our imagination into a frenzy. The more I read, the more unbearable became my need to know more—and the more I gradually came to notice the strings Pulley is pulling through the frame. In fact, I frequently had to pause my reading of The Kingdoms just so I could think. Twice, I had to stand and walk around my room, too drunk with a mix of excitement and dread to sit still. Sometimes, I would have to put down the book, or hug it tightly to my chest, and let the sheer tenderness of a moment quietly wash over me. All of this culminating in one moment towards the end when everything, like a swiftly parted curtain, abruptly made sense. And I just about lost my goddamn mind. nothing draws me more to a book than one that can make me /feel/. pulley went above and beyond that, making me feel a symphony of emotion. she wrapped her hand around my heart and yanked. The world building was good, but not enough exposition was given, the framework was loose and readers had to guess about the political and societal climate Joe woke up in.

Macneal, Elizabeth; Hurley, Andrew; etal. (et al) (2023). The Winter Spirits: Twelve Ghostly Tales for Festive Nights. Little, Brown UK. This book is not for everyone. It's...complicated and horrible and aching, it's full of sharp edges and burn scars and murder, it's about history and love and what those two concepts do to people. It's about ships. And telegraphs. Lighthouses and time travel. Tortoises. Abuse and the decisions that lead to it. There are a lot of reasons why people will not like this book. The postcard has been held at the sorting office for ninety-one years, waiting to be delivered to Joe Tournier. On the front is a lighthouse – Eilean Mor, in the Outer Hebrides.There is also a constant thread of mystery throughout the book. Who is Joe Tournier, why does Kite know so much about him, what is the mystery of the lighthouse and most importantly how did the French come to win that battle? Add to all this historical battles at sea, the sad affair of the giant tortoises, and constantly having to figure out how the time travellers are affecting futures. It is not a book one can speed read.